Out of despiration and the fact that some conidments (mayo, syrup, furikake) don't fit in the cute but tiny sauce fish bottles, I rummaged through my spice cupboard hoping to find something of help today.

Lo! I found the lowly tiney tones sesame seed container! Peeled off the out side wrapper (just happened to peel off nicely). Wah - lah! Bigger condiment containers are now mine and locally availabe! And they can be used to pour, sprinkle or dip into!

What a cute idea, and fugal too! We have a brand of spices called McCormick's that are small like that, although the lid is not as fancy, just a shaker. I think I'll save them for this idea next time one is empty.

Nice!
Too bad I can only find sesame seeds in bags, and spice containers are usually glass, therefore heavy and bulky :/
But at Xmas time I found some ornament-sized nutella jars and I bought them, and now I use them to carry condiments.

However I'm still looking for a practical solution to transport oil and vinegar when I bring a salad for lunch. I've tried different kinds of "recycled" bottles but either they're a pain to fill, or they leak. Or both!

Ciao Enui :-) I've had similar issues with vinaigrette leaking, but now I've got a solution that works for me --maybe it will work for you too. I have one restaurant where I get a take-out bento lunch once every 2-3 weeks, and it always comes with 8 little plastic condiment containers with various tsukemono, pickles, salads, etc. The larger ones can hold approximately 1/4 cup, and the tiny ones can hold around 2-3 tablespoons. I keep every one of these, and wash them, and now I have a good supply in my cupbard. When I make a salad, I nestle one of the small ones in the middle of the salad, and then pack salad around it. This means that if it leaks, well, it dresses my salad :-)

I would not go out and buy these, and in fact, I've never seen them for sale. I think they are mostly available to restaurants. But if you find a restaurant where they use these, you could ask to buy a little stack of them, maybe. Another convenient option (though not a particularly green option) is to use the smallest zip-lock type plastic bag. It can be folded and tucked on the side of a salad, or placed on the bottom of your bento salad container, so it's out of the way. These bags can also be washed and re-used. I personally fret about using them, but I do use them when they're the most obvious and handy choice. If you wanted to go really really green, another possibility might be one of those stainless steel or aluminum medication canisters, sometimes called bison tubes --here is a picture of one: http://tinyurl.com/ccjvwn

This last one seems a good option, but I would double-check to make sure that it can be foodsafe. Good luck!

I never thought about packing the condiment in the middle of the salad, but that's a great idea!
I used to use a glass bowl from Bodum for salad, the lid fits very tight, however it's not very big so I packed it quite tight. However I started using a bigger, plastic container (recycled from icecream :P) so there is more space in it and I could fit the condiments.

I've never seen condiment containers from restaurants like you mention, but I rarely get take-out (there's not much offerings besides pizza). I found some small cups with lids (they're for take-away espresso) but they're polystirene and I don't think that would get along very well with vinegar.

I've seen some people mentioning prescription bottles, but here medicines usually come in a blister pack. I had to take some that came in small bottles, but the lid wasn't reusable and I haven't been able to find a cork that fits them.

I have found some single-serving packages of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, the price is even reasonable, but I'm annoyed at the waste they create. However I bought 3 six-packs of them so for a while my salad needs will be covered :P

Another option for salads, since I have had similar issues with commuting and all, is to just take a bottle and leave it in the fridge at work if that is an option for you. I have made my own and packed it in dressing bottles (sometimes I bag it too, and just recycle the bag).

I usually take a bag to work with all the ingredients I would need for the week when I pack salads, I try to keep salad prep to a minimum.

I wonder if the little spice containers weren't punched at the top (to open for getting them out) and you put a seal on the lid (like a gasket or rubber band) if that would also work for liquids. I'll tinker with that sometime.

Our local plastics shop (Payless Plastics, Plastics for Less, Plastic Box, one of those sorts of things) has a lot of little plastic containers meant for cosmetics and suchlike. Wee pots with screw tops, and all sizes of little bottles. Those sorts of places are worth looking in for bento materials.

In the US, the Cracker Barrel restaurants (which are nearly ubiquitous in the south, where I live) serve their pancakes with little glass bottles of syrup. I've always saved these bottles for my kids' Montessori pouring activities (also because I hate throwing away perfectly good containers), but they are also great condiment bottles. Come to think of it, you may want to look in a Montessori supply catalogue, as these usually have child-sized (tiny!) containers of varying types that might work.

What I usually do is to bring all my dressings mixed in the smallest tupperware bought at Ikea (those that come in a pack with multiple shapes and sizes), which is a little big for the dressing but extremely small for anything else. I just shake the tupperware before pouring it to my salad and voilà :D

Then you'll probably be able to put the box inside your bento so you won't have lots of boxes in your bag :D